


Finding Charlene

by Rosie2009



Series: Descendants Fanfiction [51]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009
Summary: Evie suffers a horrible accident with her car, and Mal and the others have to handle the consequences. But no one could have expected the horrendous loss than came from that accident.
Relationships: Audrey Rose & Uma (Disney), Ben & Evie (Disney: Descendants), Ben & Uma (Disney: Descendants), Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Audrey Rose (Disney), Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jane & Mal & Audrey Rose & Uma (Disney), Evie & Jane (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay (Disney), Evie & Mal (Disney), Evie & Uma (Disney), Gil & Harry Hook, Gil & Harry Hook & Uma, Harry Hook/Uma, Jane & Audrey Rose (Disney: Descendants), Jane & Mal (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil, Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Mal (Disney), Jay/Audrey Rose (Disney), Mal & Audrey Rose (Disney), Mal & Carlos de Vil, Mal & Uma (Disney)
Series: Descendants Fanfiction [51]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252532
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. The Accident

“And so, I decided it’d probably be a good idea just to go and take it to the customer quickly,” Evie explained finally, describing her logic in this endeavor as she addressed Mal on the phone.

Right now, Evie was on the road in the pouring rain to bring a dress to a customer. She normally would have shipped the clothing to a customer with a speedy delivery, but she knew that this particular person needed the dress by the next morning, so she guessed that she would just go and take it to them immediately. She knew how it felt to need something on short notice.

Mal had called Evie during this adventure, wondering where the bluenette was because Mal had come over to Evie’s starter castle to hang out and Evie wasn’t there. And since then, Evie had been talking on the phone to Mal.

After all, there was no greater treasure than having time to talk with her most favorite person in the world.

“ _That was thoughtful of you. More thoughtful than I would probably be, actually,_ ” Mal complimented, and Evie chuckled, glancing down at the phone in her lap as if it were actually her best friend’s face. However, she quickly returned her gaze to the road before her.

“Come on, M. You’ve just got to give yourself a chance. You’re the most thoughtful person I know,” Evie proclaimed. However, she couldn’t help but puff up in response to the high praise Mal had just given her.

“ _I don’t know about that_ ,” Mal replied, obviously taken off guard just a little, and Evie smiled, warmth glowing throughout her. Mal always did react that way to very sincere compliments when she wasn’t really expecting them. No matter how many times Evie had offered them at unconventional times.

“Well, you should. You’re wonderful,” Evie told her heartfeltly, and the two fell into a comfortable silence. That was the wonderful part of her and Mal’s relationship. There was never an awkward silence, and they were comfortable enough with one another to not have to fill every void with words.

“ _Y’know, I kind of wish you would’ve waited_ ,” Mal expressed with a bit of a sigh.

“Why’s that?” Evie questioned, furrowing her brow as she noticed the rain pick up on the windshield before her. She could just hear the concern in Mal’s voice.

“ _Well, I read on the forecast that a heavy storm’s coming in, and there’s a chance that the rain could come down so hard that you can’t see what’s right in front of your nose_ ,” Mal explained, and Evie felt a warmth wrap around her heart as a swell of fondness filled her.

It really was everything to have her sister love her so much, and she couldn’t help but wish Mal was there so she could hug her tightly. Evie really did love Mal more than anything in the world.

“You’re sweet to worry, M. But don’t get too worried. It’s not _so_ bad right now,” Evie expressed, squinting a bit as she realized the rain was picking up with her every word.

“After all, I’ve got Charlene, right?” Evie attempted to reassure the girl, squeezing the furry steering-wheel cover underneath her hands and fondly glancing at the solar-powered hula-skirt girl on the windshield.

“ _Yeah, but does Charlene have you?_ ” Mal questioned and Evie laughed at Mal’s words. Evie could easily tell that Mal wished she was in the car next to Evie, and to be honest, Evie really wished she was. Maybe Mal could help her navigate this ever-increasing rain.

“Oh, Mal. Charlene hasn’t let us down yet, has she?” Evie asked the faerie on the other end of the phone, and Mal sighed. Evie smiled expectantly, almost as if Mal was sitting there before her instead of a whole flood’s worth of rain.

“ _Just be careful, E_ ,” Mal told her, and Evie glanced down at the phone in fondness before refocusing her gaze on the road.

“That’s my middle name, isn’t it? Genevieve Careful Queen?” Evie offered up, showcasing her teeth in a wide grin as she eagerly anticipated Mal’s response. She could practically see the look on Mal’s face right now. It most certainly was that expression she got anytime that she found Evie simultaneously amusing and silly.

“ _No, your middle name is clumsy, Cuddles,_ ” Mal informed Evie easily, and Evie huffed in response, taking a hand off of the steering wheel and adjusting her Bluetooth headset.

“I’m sorry, what was that? My Bluetooth was acting up on me,” Evie playfully questioned, and Mal chuckled at her sister. Evie knew that Mal was well-aware that Evie’s Bluetooth was doing just fine.

“ _Cuddles_ ,” Mal told her, playing along for a moment as she pretended to be dumb to the particular part of the statement that Evie was asking about.

“No, not that. I could’ve sworn you said clumsy,” Evie joked, and Mal just let out a puff of air in response.

“ _If the shoe fits_ ,” Mal replied, and Evie laughed, snorting hard in the midst of her mirth. Mal laughed as well, and Evie knew her own laugh had inspired Mal’s. Mal always said Evie’s laugh was too cute for her not to laugh along.

“It probably doesn’t. I’m not a shoemaker after all,” Evie expressed, and she could practically see Mal’s face in her mind’s eye as she peered through the windshield. She could barely see the trees at the base of the embankment lining the side of the road, and she couldn’t help but feel just the slightest bit of uneasiness.

She squeezed the steering wheel, mentally encouraging Charlene to keep going.

“ _You are a goofball, E_ ,” Mal replied.

“Better than a doodle, right?” Evie questioned, referencing one of her favorite old movies _Driving with Miss Daisy_ , and Mal chuckled, immediately catching Evie’s meaning.

“ _Yeah, certainly better than a doodle. But you know, it doesn’t take much to get better than a doodle_ ,” Mal explained, and Evie grinned easily, very much thankful that Mal was providing such a distraction from her dismal and somewhat dangerous surroundings.

“For sure,” Evie replied, and things went quiet for a few moments. However, just as she was about to say something, Mal spoke.

“ _You okay?_ ” Mal asked, and Evie nodded before realizing that Mal wasn’t sitting there with her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“ _I don’t know. I just… I’ve got a bad feeling, Evie_ ,” Mal expressed, and Evie shook her head slightly in reply, knowing Mal couldn’t see her, but still feeling the need to physically express her responses. For some reason, she felt that it was only appropriate.

“I think it’ll be okay, M. As you know, I’m an excellent driver,” Evie informed her proudly, and Mal sighed. Evie held fast to the steering wheel, keeping it firmly and carefully planted on the road.

“ _Yeah, I know. But there’s this thing called accidents, and it seems to happen to even excellent drivers_ ,” Mal explained to her, and Evie chuckled fondly.

“I love you, M, and I promise I’ll be fine,” Evie assured Mal sweetly, and Mal huffed in response, no doubt smiling just a bit.

“ _I love you, too, and don’t make any promises. Those kinds of things make me nervous_ ,” Mal responded simply, and Evie furrowed her brow as the rain was almost completely blinding her. At this point, she was navigating the road more by feel.

After a moment, Evie opened her mouth and was about to respond to her sister. However, her gaze shifted to the rearview mirror, and she noticed that amongst the flowing wetness covering her back window there were headlights coming up behind her and at a fast pace. Evie furrowed her brow, raising her head up a bit as she watched the lights that were now nearly on top of her.

It was like time had stopped, and all she could think about was the fact that the steering wheel had suddenly jerked out of her control. She watched in slow-motion as Charlene very painstakingly slowly moved off the road and went rolling down that embankment on the side of the road.

Hula-skirt girl was floating in front of Evie’s vision as she came off of the dash in front of her, and the water droplets on the windshield were ever so slowly drifting their way across the glass. However, as she stopped watching that particular detail, she realized that there was an incoming tree. She couldn’t even think about screaming before the front of the Jeep suddenly crunched into its trunk, sending Evie forward in her seat as the airbags slowly deployed.

Before Evie knew it, everything went black, a voice shouting distantly that sounded suspiciously like Mal.

Mal. Evie loved Mal.

More than anything.


	2. The Call

“Evie?! What was that sound?! Evie?! EVIE?!” Mal yelled, her voice picking up in volume as she stood up from her seat at Evie’s table where she had been waiting on the girl to return.

_Click_.

Mal pulled the phone away from her phone and looked at it worriedly. She furrowed her brow, feeling her heart rate pick up as she just thought about the sound that she had heard on the other side of the line right before it had hung up.

Mal took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and just focus on the sound of the rain hitting the windows. It’d be alright. Evie had probably just lost connection in the midst of the heavy rain and the noise could’ve been static.

But it was the most metal-crunching static noise she had ever heard.

Mal swallowed, deciding she’d just call Evie back to see if she had gotten out of the bad connection zone that she was no doubt in. In fact, Evie was probably in the process of calling her back right now, and they could miss each other by calling at the same time until one of them realized that the other was calling, and then one of them would take the chance that the other one had figured out the situation, and they’d be happily reunited on the phone.

Hopefully.

Mal hit the number at the very top of her contact list, and it started to dial. However, just as soon as she had at least halfway convinced herself of her self-conceived story, the phone went straight to voicemail.

“ _Hi, this is Evie! If you’re Mal, then you just come over. If you’re Jay or Carlos, don’t worry, I’ll be there ASAP to get you out of whatever mess you’ve gotten into now. And if you’re anyone else, please leave a message!_ ” Mal hung up the phone before she could leave a message, and she sighed deeply, furrowing her brow. Her grip tightened on her phone as she studied it for a moment.

That was no big deal. She’d just call back again.

“ _Hi, this is Evie! If you’re Mal, then you just come over. If you’re Jay or Carlos, don’t worry, I’ll be there ASAP---_ ”

Or again.

“ _Hi, this is Evie! If you’re Mal, then---_ ”

Again.

“ _Hi, this is Evie! If---_ ”

And again.

“ _Hi, this is---_ ”

Mal didn’t realize it, but by now, her hands were almost shaking as she was nearly panicking fully. She couldn’t get Evie on the phone, and the last thing she had heard from her best friend was the sound of a crash.

Mal couldn’t help but remember her bad feeling that she had perpetually warning Evie of, and how Evie had blown her concerns off with that usual sweet confidence, and how she had told Mal she loved her, and Mal was just _so_ _scared_ right now.

Almost as if she were on autopilot, she found herself texting everyone in their group text as the thunder rolled outside the house.

“Anybody heard about any car wrecks? Answer ASAP,” Mal typed, and she somewhat hauntedly noted how Evie had been the last one to sign off of the group chat the last time they had talked.

“ _Give me a sec, Mal, I’ll send out an ask on Auragram_ ,” Audrey replied to Mal, and Mal felt her heart warm ever so slightly as the princess was the first to reply.

“ _U know_ _I dont keep up w/ news_ ,” Harry sent to Mal, and Mal literally growled in response, not in the mood to put up with Harry’s nonsense right now.

“Give me info that’ll be helpful Hook” Mal shot back, typing before her mind could fully filter it. However, she wasn’t regretful of her words. Harry needed to treat this situation with more seriousness.

“ _No havent heard anythin and what’s goin on?_ ” Uma responded to Mal’s text, and Mal shook her head, still not one hundred percent functioning as she should have been.

“I need to know now, we could have real emergency on our hands,” Mal typed back.

“ _I’ll ask around. Why? Is everything alright?_ ” Ben questioned, and Mal couldn’t quite text her fears. It was almost like legitimizing them, and she definitely didn’t want _these_ thoughts to be validated.

“ _Mal what happenin talk to us_ ,” Jay typed, and Mal felt her stomach clench as she tried to specifically avoid the thought process of what could have possibly happened.

“I need an answer jay i need an answer and somebody needs to give it to me,” Mal replied, typing panickily and not worrying about grammar as her mind became further consumed with the thought of what could have possibly happened to Evie.

“ _I haven’t heard anything so far, Mal. What’s the problem? Is everything okay?_ ” Audrey asked, and Mal felt her fear building up intensely in her mind as she was almost unable to think of anything but what could have happened to Evie.

“ _Where r u?_ ” Uma asked, and Mal typed a response, the question being just far enough from her fears for her to respond to it.

“At Evie’s house,” Mal replied, and she was suddenly hit with the smell of Evie’s perfume as she gained a sort of awareness. She raised her gaze from the phone to look around the house. It was so inherently Evie that no one that even remotely knew Evie could mistake it as someone else’s. If the thousands of pictures of Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and the rest of their group were not telling enough, the décor and color scheme screamed Evie’s tastes. The perfume alone was exceedingly indicative.

“ _Ill B there_ ,” Uma replied, the phone vibrating with the text message, and Mal returned her eyes to the phone. Mal furrowed her brow, wondering what she was giving off that had made Uma so worried.

Mal glanced up at the time that was listed at the top corner of the phone and noted it had been about fifteen minutes since she had last spoken to Evie.

Mal was about to type something to the rest of the group, but before she could concentrate on this much longer, she suddenly was getting a call. Mal furrowed her brow as she realized it was a number that she couldn’t recognize.

However, on the shred of hope that Evie might have gotten to the customer’s house and was calling from a landline, she answered the phone eagerly.

“Hello?!” Mal almost yelled in greeting.

“ _Hello, ma’am, is this Mal?_ ”

“Yeah? This is she?” Mal responded in more of a question, completely taken aback as she listened to the voice in shock. She had been so expectant that the caller would be Evie that she didn’t even think of the possibility that it could have been someone else.

“Ma’am, we’re going to need you to come to Auradon City Hospital as soon as possible. A Genevieve Queen got into a car accident earlier, and she has just been admitted---”

Everything shut off as the woman uttered those words, and Mal went completely deaf and almost blind to everything. She could see but not actually process as those words echoed in her mind.

_Car accident_.

_Admitted_.

_Genevieve Queen_.

Mal was breathing hard as if she had been running a marathon, and she was holding onto the phone in a death grip, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew if she wasn’t careful, her dragon strength would shatter the device.

“Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you there?” the woman questioned, and it was at that moment that Mal’s hand met itself, the phone falling apart and hitting the ground in a million shattered pieces.

Mal absently released it, shaking beyond all belief as trickles of blood ran all down her hand. She was horrendously trembling, and before she knew it, she realized there were hot tears running down her face.

“Mal?! Mal, where are you?!” Uma called, suddenly bursting through Evie’s front door, her clothes and hair dripping wet from the rain outside.

From the looks of it, the pirate had run through the rain to get to the house. Uma’s gaze darted about as she stormed in the house, and she spotted Mal quickly. She wasted no time in stalking over, looking at the girl that was currently sobbing hysterically.

“Mal! Hey, hey, it’s alright, talk to me, Mal, it’s okay,” Uma assured her, and Mal could see the pirate out of the corner of her eye kneeling beside the chair. Mal’s mouth moved in unspoken words for several long moments, and Uma hummed encouragingly, her eyes wide.

However, after only a moment, Mal seemed to get a game-plan in mind as she shot up from her chair, the motion quickly mirrored by Uma. Mal could feel Uma’s gaze on Mal’s hand and she knew the pirate was wondering what had happened, but she was not at all in any shape to consider that for very long. Mal grabbed her keys from the table, leaving several droplets covering the table where her hand had touched it.

She immediately started heading out the door, and Uma followed her swiftly.

“Mal, talk to me, what’s going on?” Uma asked, and Mal hurried out into the rain, her mind on one track: get to her purple Volkswagen Beetle.

“Hey, stop! Stop!” Uma demanded, grabbing Mal’s shoulder and spinning her around to face the pirate as the rain poured down on them heavily.

“What are you doing?! What’s going on?!” Uma demanded, insisting upon answers as she grabbed Mal’s shoulders in her hands. Mal immediately started trying to pull away from Uma, panic taking over the faerie.

“Let go of me! I’ve got to get to the hospital! Now! I’ve got to get to the hospital!” Mal repeated, her mouth speaking the words that her mind was so heavily filled with. Uma held the girl tighter in her grasp.

“Why, Mal?! Why do we have to go?!” Uma questioned, and Mal shook her head, tears running down her face as she looked behind her desperately, trying feebly to pull away from the pirate’s steadfast hold.

“She’s at the hospital, she had an accident, we’ve got to--- Uma, let me go, we’ve got to get to---”

“Who’s in the hospital, Mal?! Talk to me, who’s in the hospital?!” Uma asked, and Mal sobbed hard as she tried and failed to wrench herself from Uma’s grasp.

“Evie, Uma, Evie! Let me go, I’ve got to get to Evie!” Mal cried, and Uma’s jaw slackened.

“Look, you’re going to have to calm down before we go driving down there,” Uma informed her, the rain successfully wetting them both to the very bone.

“Evie needs me! Evie needs me, Uma, let me go!”

However, before Mal could fight her much more, her face was grabbed in Uma’s hands.

“Calm down. Chill out. You can’t get to the hospital like this,” Uma informed her, her grip unrelenting upon Mal’s head. Mal’s eyes darted about.

“I need out! Evie needs me---”

“And you can’t help her like this. Either you chill out or you ain’t going to the hospital,” Uma informed her, her voice coming in strongly as she challenged Mal. Mal’s gaze stopped moving so much as her eyes settled upon Uma’s insistent gaze.

Mal took several deep breaths, staring at Uma as she regained her wits. Now all she could think about was how much she needed to go to the hospital to see Evie. Instead of pure terror, she now felt pure terror and determination mixed in.

And that determination was a wonderful source of focus.

“Uma, let go of me now or I’ll snap your hands at the wrist. I’ve got places to be, and you can come with me, but if you so much as think to stop me, I’ll make sure you regret it,” Mal told her venomously, knowing Uma wouldn’t take offense to it. In fact, Mal knew it was just the thing that would convince Uma that Mal was mentally prepared to go to the hospital and take care of things.

Uma released Mal immediately, allowing a small grin of approval.

“Let’s go.”


	3. The Truth

“Holy shidooky, we’re going to die!” Uma cried as she held onto the “oh-poop” handle as if it was her lifeline. Mal rolled her eyes, cutting another corner and nearly jumping the curb as she sped on the road.

“I’ve got to get to Evie. She’s had a wreck. I’ve told you this,” Mal replied in something that was almost a mantra, her mind on one track. She’d worry about her sheer terror, panic, and sickness to her stomach once she had reached Evie.

Uma had sent a group text to everyone and let them know what was going on with them and the situation with Evie, and everyone was supposed to come to hospital as soon as they could. Unfortunately for them, the hospital was a good forty-five minutes from Evie’s house. Mal had been terrified this entire time and she had been rushing down the road as fast as she could possibly make the small vehicle go.

By now, Mal’s blood on her hand had dried and the wounds from the glass were clotted up. However, the wounds hurt when she flexed her hand a bit too hard, but she couldn’t worry about that. After all, she had much worse.

“Yeah, but we’re fixin’ to have a wreck if you don’t slow down some!” Uma proclaimed, and Mal set her jaw as she careened down the road at the speed of light.

They drove in silence for a few moments, but Mal must have looked a bit more perturbed than she thought she was letting show, because Uma cleared her throat.

“Umm… You wanna talk? Or something?” Uma asked, and Mal’s gaze hardened as she tried to keep the more rationally functioning part of her brain at the forefront of her focus. However, she couldn’t quite ignore the opportunity to talk to someone about all of this.

“What if she’s not okay, Uma?” Mal questioned, allowing a bit of her fear to tremble through her. She felt Uma’s gaze heavily on the side of her face.

“Hey, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Uma told her, an easiness in her voice that Mal was not sure was entirely genuine.

“What if she needs operating on?” Mal asked, and Uma shook her head insistently in reply.

“No, of course not. I’m sure that’s not---”

“What if she has to be put on life support?!” Mal demanded, getting increasingly upset about the entire ordeal as she grew nearer to the hospital complex.

“What if they put her on life support… and she won’t wake up?” Mal whispered, not wanting to face this fear, but finding herself unable to avoid expressing it.

To her surprise, after a few moments, she felt Uma’s hand on her shoulder. Mal’s gaze snapped to Uma’s for a moment before returning to the road. However, in that short glance, Mal could see the intense care in Uma’s eyes.

“She’ll be alright, Dragon. She’ll be alright. I promise,” Uma assured Mal. Before she could consider these words for much longer, she realized that her turn had come upon her quicker than expected, and she wheeled over into the hospital parking lot. Uma immediately released Mal’s shoulder and used both hands to cling to the “oh, poop” handle.

She had no time to dwell on her fears for now because she was about to find out where Evie was. Which meant she was about to see Evie for better or for worse.

And Mal was _so_ terrified it’d be for worse.

Mal pulled in front of the hospital and screeched to a stop before the doors. She wasted no time in snatching open her door and slamming it behind her. The poor valet was standing there in something between horror and awe, and Mal shoved her keys at him before charging through the doors.

She marched up to the front desk, and she soon heard quick footsteps behind her that she knew belonged to Uma. Mal slammed her hands on the desk, and the woman jumped in fear as she gaped at her Queen standing before her in such a state as she was now.

“Where is Genevieve Queen?”

“1-36,” the woman squeaked, and Mal started to take off. However, Uma grabbed her arm, stopping her quickly. Mal’s eyes lit up in a bright green, but Uma didn’t take her hand away.

“How bad was the wreck?” Uma questioned, always one to shoot straight in dire situations. The woman sighed deeply, looking up at the pirate.

“The car was completely totaled, but there were several things intact as far as her personal customizations she made to the interior,” the woman replied, rummaging behind the counter. “Actually, here’s something from the wreckage.”

Mal barely paid attention to the object in the woman’s hand, but she did have enough wits about her to recognize Evie’s hula-skirt girl that rested on the dash.

Uma then released Mal, taking the hula-skirt into her hand, and Mal took off down the hall, heading for the stairs. Uma’s footsteps came pounding after the girl as she hurried behind the faerie.

All Mal could hope was that her best friend was alright. The woman’s words did not make her feel better in the least and in fact, they made her even more terrified.

At this point, Mal was very afraid that Evie could be lying in a hospital bed, attached to life support in some sort of permanent coma. Mal was already having horrible foresight of how she’d be sitting there every night for however long they kept people on life support until she finally had to swallow the hardest pill of all and unplug the most important person in the world to her.

And Mal wasn’t ready for that. She’d never be ready for that. And she’d never forgive herself, despite how mandatory it would be. Of course, Mal might just have Ben sign over an executive order that the life support never be turned off.

But somewhere inside of her, she knew Ben wouldn’t agree to that. She could threaten him, though, and dangle him over the ocean while in dragon form, dragging his head in the salty, cold water of the ocean until he granted her demands.

Mal hurried through the halls, glancing at room numbers as she passed them by.

32.

33.

34.

35.

_36_.

Mal froze in front of the door, and she could almost feel Uma as the pirate came to an abrupt halt, dangerously close to running into the faerie. They both stood there, staring at the door for just a moment. However, Mal took a deep breath, her need to see Evie--- life support or not--- taking precedence over all else.

Mal opened the door, her brow furrowed as she fully expected the horrors of her wild imagination. As soon as she looked at the bed, Mal froze, her feet refusing to move any further.

Sure enough, there was Evie on the bed.

But the real shocker was that Evie was on the bed with a cast, trying to eat vanilla ice cream, looking more medicated than anyone Mal had ever seen with her eyes looking between her sweet treat and _The Andy Griffith Show_ on the television.

Her cheeks were stuffed with ice cream as she moved her gaze somewhat sluggishly at the door. As soon as she saw Mal, her face lit up with that usual adoration that she had whenever she even so much as heard Mal’s name, a smile spreading as she tried to keep the ice cream in her mouth.

Mal stood there, staring at her with Uma close behind her. After a long moment, Mal burst into tears, crying hard as she ran over to Evie. She made it just to Evie’s bedside before she collapsed on her knees, throwing her arms around Evie’s waist, legs, and whatever she could grab onto from her position on the floor.

“Evie!” Mal managed to sob, clinging to the bluenette as if she were the last thing in the world to hold onto. Mal heard the sound of a bowl hitting the metal tray, and she almost started crying harder as she felt Evie’s hand stroking her hair. Mal could feel that Evie’s hands were sticky from the ice cream, but quite honestly, she didn’t care. She was just glad that life-infused hand was touching her right now.

“M? Are you okay? Don’t cry, I’m fine! I mean, I could go for Oreo ice cream and vanilla’s all they have right now, but you shouldn’t cry about it!” Evie attempted to soothe Mal in her drug-induced stupor. Mal pushed up a bit, clinging to Evie in a suffocating grip. Mal couldn’t even care that Evie was doing a terrible job. It was just such a blessing to hear Evie’s voice gracing her ears once again.

“I just texted everybody that you’re alright, and not to hurry quite so fast. Oh, man, Genevieve, you gave me--- I mean, Mal--- a heart attack,” Uma expressed, coming over and affectionately squeezing Evie’s shoulder as she stood nearby the sniveling heap on the floor and the bed-ridden girl.

“I thought you were dead!!!!” Mal hysterically proclaimed, and Evie stroked Mal’s head as her attention was brought back to her best friend. It was apparent that the pain medication had taken any and all coordination Evie might have even remotely possessed as she somewhat shakily bent to kiss Mal’s head. Mal shifted her arms around Evie, and her arm ran into the cast on Evie’s own arm. Mal looked up from her place buried in Evie’s hospital gown, and her eyes settled on the cast. Mal hadn’t even really realized the cast on Evie’s arm, and as soon as she saw it, she was breaking down worse.

“YOU BROKE YOUR ARM?!!!” Mal cried, sobbing hard, and Evie absently looked at her arm before her eyes widened in recognition.

“Oh! I guess I did! And they said something else was wrong with me… I don’t remember what it was,” Evie trailed, and Mal barely caught sight of Uma out of the corner of her eye looking at the board on the wall.

“Would it be a concussion?” Uma asked, looking back at the pair, and Mal’s eyes went wide as her gaze snapped to Evie’s warm mocha eyes.

“YOU’VE GOT A CONCUSSION?!” Mal demanded loudly, her voice breaking in the midst of her exclamation. Evie nodded easily in recognition of the diagnosis, but at Evie’s affirmation, Mal got even more upset. However, after a moment, Evie’s eyes went wide as she pointed at Uma.

“Oh, and there was something else! Something else about the concussion!”

“It causes disorientation and confusion?” Uma asked, unimpressed, and Evie grinned widely.

“That’s it!” Evie agreed easily, pointing at Uma, and Mal sniffed hard.

“Evie, you’re not okay!!!” Mal sobbed, and Evie wrapped one arm around Mal tightly as she pressed her cheek to Mal’s head.

“M, get up here in the bed with me,” Evie gently commanded, and Mal wasted no time in miserably crawling up. Mal buried her face into Evie’s side, cuddling deeply into the older girl’s embrace. Evie wrapped her arm around Mal’s shaking frame.

“I’m fine, M. I don’t even feel any pain! I think they got me on some medication,” Evie stage-whispered the last part.

“What gave you that idea?” Uma questioned sarcastically, and Evie scratched at Mal’s scalp gently. Mal shook, her sobs growing a bit lesser now that she could actually nestle herself closely against Evie and feel Evie’s warmth radiating against her.

“But seriously, Evie, you really have no idea how glad I am you’re okay. Mal’s been like this ever since she found out you were in the hospital,” Uma explained to Evie, and Mal just breathed in deeply, filling her nose with the scent of Evie’s perfume and just that smell that was unique to Evie in particular.

“Well, there was no need to worry. I’m fine, and I’ll be fine. I’d be even finer if I had Oreo ice cream,” Evie expressed honestly, and Mal couldn’t help but laugh out of pure stress and relief as it finally dawned upon her that Evie actually was in fact alright. A broken arm and a concussion was not nearly the worst price that could’ve been paid for the wreck.

It was at that moment that Mal thought of the woman at the front desk. And the hula-skirt girl Uma had taken from her. And two particular words.

_Totaled_.

_Wreckage_.

Mal froze against Evie as these words hit her like a ton of bricks. She almost expected Evie to read her mind and start going nuts. But Evie didn’t. Evie actually seemed perfectly fine and blissfully unaware as she tried to eat ice cream with one hand.

Evie obviously had no idea what had happened to her car, and while Mal didn’t want to bring it up, she found it necessary to at least ask Evie if she remembered anything.

Mal knew Charlene was Evie’s pride and joy and she loved it more than any material thing she owned besides her starter castle. Mal remembered going to the dealership with Evie to pick out a car, and she remembered the absolutely starstruck look she had on her face as soon as she laid her eyes on it.

And ever since then, Evie drove it everywhere to take anyone anywhere. She always drove Mal, Audrey, Uma, and Jane in Charlene when they went on their trips, and Mal had actually grown quite fond of the Jeep herself. Which is why she knew that Evie would completely freak out and fall into a breakdown quite possibly even bigger than Mal’s.

“Umm… Evie?” Mal questioned tentatively, her voice still just a bit shaky, and she cleared her throat.

“Yes?” Evie replied, grinning dopily as she looked at Mal. She removed her good arm from around Mal to wipe Mal’s tearstained face carefully before returning her arm around Mal in a loving embrace. Mal swallowed hard, not sure how to put this, but knowing she needed to find answers.

“Do you remember what happened?” Mal questioned, and Evie furrowed her brow, thinking hard on the question.

“Umm…. I had a wreck,” Evie spoke, and Mal nodded, sniffing, and wiping her eyes. Mal sighed slightly, realizing that Evie obviously hadn’t thought very much upon this subject.

“Do you know what happened in the wreck?” Mal prodded gently, gazing at Evie as she rested the side of her head against Evie’s arm. Uma folded her arms over her chest as she watched the exchange.

“I crashed?” Evie asked after a long moment, her brow furrowed, and Mal could tell that Evie’s mind obviously wasn’t connecting the dots as of yet. Mal swallowed slightly, hating to push the issue, but she was really hoping Evie would come to the conclusion about the car on her own.

“Yes… Anything else jumping out at you that could’ve happened?” Mal questioned patiently, her voice only a bit warbly now that she felt so much better by Evie’s side.

“I… I ran off the road?” Evie inquired, almost sounding like an uncertain child as she looked at Mal with big, curious eyes. Mal felt her heart squeeze a bit at the unadulterated trust in that gaze.

“I know, Evie. I knew that you ran off the road.”

“How did you know?” Evie innocently questioned, obviously not remembering the entire conversation that she and Mal had been having during the time of the crash. Mal sighed a bit, and she replied to her best friend, pressing her check a bit more flush to Evie’s arm.

“I was on the phone to you when you crashed, Evie.”

“Oh! I remember now! Hey, you said you had a bad feeling… I guess I should’ve listened, huh?” Evie chuckled goofily, her medicated side shining through brightly.

“Disorientation and confusion!” Uma muttered under her breath as if it were a grand proclamation, but Mal chose to ignore the pirate. Mal started to open her mouth to keep talking to Evie, but the door suddenly opened quickly.

“Oh, my gosh, we’re here!” a voice Mal quickly recognized as Audrey called out, and Mal turned to look at the visitors. She couldn’t help but smile a bit as she realized that both Audrey and Jane were there. Audrey looked like a bit of a frazzled mess and Jane was pale as a sheet.

“Jane looks a little shook up, Princess. You whoop out some of that infamous driving?” Uma questioned, ever teasing of the other girl, and Audrey glared at Uma in irritation as she pointed at the pirate, plopping her purse on the nearby table.

“Don’t you even start with me, Uma!” Audrey warned before turning back to Evie and hurrying over. Mal raised up from her place lying next to Evie, and she sat down on the edge of the bed as Audrey hugged the bluenette tightly.

“Oh, thank heavens you’re alright!!!” Audrey cried as she squeezed Evie. Evie smiled, a silly look on her face as she returned the embrace the best that she could with one arm.

“I’m perfectly fine! I’d just really like some Oreo ice cream,” Evie told the pink princess, and Audrey laughed. Mal could easily tell it was from nerves. Audrey pulled back from Evie, dabbing at her eyes slightly before straightening.

“Oh, Evie! You’re alive!” Jane cried as she tearfully hugged Evie tightly. Evie returned it easily, looking at Mal affectionately, and Mal felt her heart swell with her sister’s loving gaze.

“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” Evie questioned as Jane pulled away. As soon as she had pulled away from Evie, her eyes went wide as she looked at Mal, and Mal immediately read the girl’s mind.

Mal shook her head, hoping to signify to Jane not to talk about Charlene and the damages from that part of the wreck.

“I texted and told everybody everything,” Uma explained, surreptitiously implying exactly what she had told the group. Mal was mostly sure that she could safely assume that everybody knew about the totaled Jeep by now. She just hoped like crazy that no one would mention it until Mal slowly worked the idea into Evie’s head, and Evie realized it for herself.

“So how are you guys?” Evie asked, a sweet smile on her face as she reached out her good hand to take Mal’s. Mal immediately took it, squeezing it lovingly.

“We’re doing fine. And I guess you are, too, hmm?” Audrey questioned, and Uma snorted.

“I’m a little medicated!” Evie whispered loudly, and Audrey nodded slowly, glancing between Uma and Evie as she seemed to connect the dots.

“Completely doped up, I’d say,” Uma muttered to herself, laughing, and Mal shot Uma a somewhat disapproving glance. However, Mal couldn’t necessarily disagree with the pirate.

Although Mal was unbelievably beyond thankful for Evie’s wellbeing, Mal was not particularly appreciative of Evie’s reaction to medication. She never did do well with pain medication or any kind of strong medicine. It usually made her talk a lot and made her goofy. So far, Mal saw more goofy than talking a lot, but she was very much on-guard for the yammering that could occur.

“Hey, anybody home?” Jay called, and both Mal and Evie looked at the door as Carlos and Jay came in. To Mal’s surprise, the boys had their arms full of goodies, and Mal couldn’t help but smile as she watched Evie’s face light up.

“Jay! Carlos! My boys!” Evie greeted, showing just how out of it she was as she reached her hand out to them. However, it was adorable just how excited Evie was to see her family and some of her most favorite people in the world.

The two guys wasted no time in placing all of Evie’s stuff on the bed and hugged her tightly. She grinned widely, squeezing them as tight as she could considering that she had only one arm available to suffocate them with.

“Eves! Oh, man, we were so worried,” Carlos told her, and Evie somewhat clumsily delivered a kiss to the side of his head before moving to Jay and offering him one as well.

“Don’t worry, buddies two, I’m fine!” Evie assured him, and Mal snorted at the looks on the boys’ faces as they pulled back from the hug.

“She’s on medication, isn’t she?” Jay questioned, and Mal chuckled with a nod. Carlos smiled at Mal but was quickly distracted by Evie as her eyes went wide and she grinned, extending her arm.

“Ooh! Gifts!” Evie excitedly proclaimed, and both of the guys smiled as they pulled the presents from the foot of the bed over to Evie’s free hand.

“Here, I got you a blue teddy bear,” Jay told her, and Evie smiled widely as she took in the sight of the little thing. It even had a clip on it to hook onto something, and Evie rested the bear on her cast carefully, balancing it gently.

“And I got you a model car from the gift shop, too. Look, it’s a little Jeep. Like… uh… Like Charlene,” Carlos pointed out regretfully, his face falling as he sadly looked at Evie. Evie just grinned cluelessly as she looked between Carlos and the figurine.

“Yeah… Evie, we’re really sorry about Charlene,” Jay expressed, looking at her unhappily. Audrey, Mal, and Jane all immediately stared at the boys, and Mal mentally wished they would shut up now before Evie got the message.

“We went by the junkyard on our way here and saw her,” Carlos expressed, and Evie squinted a bit at the de Vil boy. Mal held her breath, and shared a glance with the three other girls in the room that were sober and uninjured. Uma raised her eyebrows, letting out a puff of air, and Audrey cleared her throat while Jane just stared in surprise.

After a long moment, Evie just laughed a bit, and everyone gaped at her as if she had fully lost her mind. Evie snorted once, that typical Evie-like giggles shining through, and she looked at the boys.

“Oh, that’s okay, guys. I’ll fix her. A few dents aren’t incurable,” Evie proclaimed, waving her had dismissively at the two boys.

“And as soon as I fix her, I’m going to hook this little bear on Charlene’s rearview mirror and put this model on my nightstand,” Evie happily announced, and Jay coughed a bit.

“Obviously she hasn’t seen the amount of damage it took,” Jay spoke quietly, looking back at his pink princess, and Audrey shot him a glare, trying to communicate to him to shut up before things went sour.

“She doesn’t know, does she?” Carlos questioned in surprise as he looked at Mal, and Mal shut her eyes tightly in irritation, trying to get a hold on herself before she snapped at the boys.

“What do I not know? Honestly, you guys are acting like something terrible happened,” Evie expressed with a chuckle, and the boys almost visibly took a step back and looked to Mal as they played a game of hot potato with the conversation.

“Ummm… Well,” Jay trailed off, looking between Mal and Audrey helplessly and Audrey rolled her eyes folding her arms over her chest as his shoulder brushed against hers. Carlos was almost hiding behind Jane as he grabbed her hand tightly.

“M, what’re they talking about?” Evie questioned, looking at Mal with those loving, trusting eyes that could make anybody melt with love for the girl. Mal, of course, was not immune to her sister’s methods of persuasion, and she swallowed hard, not sure how to start talking about it.

Mal really didn’t want to tell Evie directly. She knew the mess that Evie would be in when she found out about the car.

“Evie… You remember when I was talking to you just a bit earlier about the accident?”

“Yeah? Why?” Evie asked innocently, and Mal winced as she took Evie’s hand in her own, scooting up closer to Evie.

“Well, Charlene… Charlene took some damage, E,” Mal told her, trying to sugarcoat it a bit, and Evie shook her head with a smile, totally not getting it.

“Of course! I had a wreck, and she did, too. She’ll be fine. I’ve got a year membership at the mechanic lotsa, lotsa _mula_ to pay to fix ‘er up,” Evie informed Mal, moving her fingers together to signify money, and Mal almost facepalmed as Evie made herself look like a total moron.

“Man, oh, man, at this point, I’m not sure if it’s denial, concussion, medication, or Evie being an idiot,” Uma muttered, and Mal narrowed her eyes, shooting a glare back at the pirate. Uma shrugged.

“Evie, Charlene… Charlene’s in the junkyard, you know?” Mal tried to subtly clarify, and Evie nodded easily.

“Yeah, I know. I’m getting her out tomorrow, the day after, or whenever I get out of here, and then I’ll get her fixed. What was it your mom used to say? Oh, yeah! Easy peasy!” Evie sweetly told Mal, squeezing the faerie’s hand in her own.

Mal opened her mouth, about to take the plunge and tell Evie the truth, when Uma charged over.

“Look, you ain’t doin’ it right,” Uma informed Mal before looking at Evie levelly. Mal furrowed her brow, truly dreading what was no doubt about to come.

“Evie… Charlene done sprouted wings and flew up to that great junkyard in the sky,” Uma told Evie, and Mal groaned aloud, almost wishing that Uma would have just told Evie the straight answer. Evie furrowed her brow.

“Charlene doesn’t have wings… I specifically told them that I didn’t like those doors that pop up. It makes cars look like birds,” Evie replied, and Mal sighed deeply and pushed Uma away before the pirate could possibly interrupt. Mal looked at Evie sincerely, into those beautiful brown eyes she loved so much, and told Evie the truth of things.

“Charlene was totaled, Evie,” Mal confessed, and Evie looked at Mal hard, all smiles falling from her face as she stared at her best friend. Mal swallowed, feeling horrible about having to tell her, but knowing Evie deserved to know the truth.

“Are… Are you serious?” Evie asked, and Mal nodded solemnly. Evie was terribly quiet for a long moment before she looked away from Mal. Mal could easily see the tears coming upon Evie, and she felt her heart break as she looked at the girl.

“Well, we’ll come back later when you’re feeling better, Apple,” Jay told Evie before grabbing Carlos and dragging him out the door. Carlos was somewhere between willingly coming along, and wanting to be involved in the situation, but he let Jay drag him out. Audrey at the boys disapprovingly, mentally berating them for leaving so quickly.

As soon as the door was shut, Evie gathered her words, opening her mouth just a bit.

“Charlene’s gone?” she questioned brokenly.

“Yes, E,” Mal admitted, and Evie swallowed hard, tears now freely rolling as she looked out the window. Mal scooted up a bit on the bed, placing her free hand on Evie’s shoulder.

“She’s… totaled?”

“Yeah,” Mal agreed, and Evie sniffed as she tried to keep it together for at least a little while longer.

“Hey, look, don’t worry, I’ve got something that they pulled from the wreckage,” Uma attempted to be reassuring, and Mal knew immediately how Evie was going to react.

Evie looked up at Uma almost injured, her eyes and cheeks shining, and Mal gazed at the pirate as well, realizing that she was proffering the hula skirt girl. Mal released Evie’s hand and Evie took the figurine from Uma’s hand.

As soon as she looked at it for a moment, she broke down into tears fully. Mal wasted no time in moving her way the rest of the way up the bed so that she was hugging Evie tightly.

“Oh, M, Charlene’s gone!” Evie sobbed, and Mal held her tightly. Evie clenched that one arm around Mal as firmly as she could wrap it, and she cried hard into Mal’s shoulder. Mal stroked Evie’s back, trying to make her feel better.

“It’s okay, E, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!!! What am I going to drive _you_ in? What am I going to drive _all of us_ in for our trips? What am I going to drive _me_ in?” Evie questioned as she fell apart even further, and Mal petted her hair soothingly.

“We can use my Hummer for trips, if you want?”

“We can’t! Charlene’s tradition! She’s always seen us through!” Evie bawled, and Mal could practically feel Uma scrambling for another answer.

“Well, we probably won’t even have to use my Hummer! I mean, you’ll probably get a new car, and---”

“CHARLENE WAS NOT JUST A CAR!!! SHE CANNOT BE REPLACED BY A CAR!!!!” Evie wailed loudly, and Mal pulled Evie even tighter against her as she tried to make the girl calm down.

“I know, E, I know. Charlene wasn’t just a car. Uma just doesn’t understand,” Mal comforted Evie, and Uma narrowed her eyes, unimpressed with the faerie.

“She was a member of the family!” Evie cried out, and Mal nodded, stroking Evie’s back and rubbing it as she tried to keep Evie with her instead of in that hysterical state that she was heavily working on falling into.

“She was a member of the family, and we all loved her,” Mal permitted, agreeing with her sister in an attempt to placate at least a little bit.

She could hear Uma shuffling over to stand with Audrey and Jane, but other than that, Mal didn’t pay any attention to the others.

“And I took her from us!!!” Evie sobbed, and Mal felt a stab to her heart as she listened to Evie’s words.

“Hey, hey, you didn’t take her from us. Charlene might be gone, E, but you’re okay, and that’s all that matters,” Mal assured her, and Evie clutched at Mal as tightly as she could manage, desperately clinging to her as she tried to find solace in this horrible time.

“I took her from you. I took her from me,” Evie sniveled pitifully, and Mal shook her head.

“No. No, you didn’t take her from me. I would rather her be gone than you be gone, Evie,” Mal assured her, running her hand in soothing strokes down Evie’s back and back up in rhythmic patterns. “And you didn’t take her from you, either. You didn’t take her at all. Accidents happen, E.”

“We loved her,” Evie sniffled, and Mal noted that Evie was starting to calm down.

“We did. And it’s okay. You’re safe,” Mal told her. After only a moment’s hesitation, she moved her mouth closely to Evie’s ear to whisper to her.

“Do you know how scared I was when I thought you were badly hurt? I was out of my mind, E. Completely out of my mind. You can ask Uma, she’ll vouch for me,” Mal very quietly expressed, and Evie nodded.

“I was terrified, worried sick… And… to be honest, I’m glad Charlene took the fall for this one, because I couldn’t live without you,” Mal murmured, and Evie nodded, sobbing just a bit at the words. However, Mal knew Evie understood. Mal knew Evie would feel the same way if the two had switched places.

They were both quiet for a long moment until Evie sighed shakily, pulling away from Mal gently as she wiped her tears and pulled herself together.

“I loved her, and I’m really going to miss her… So, may her soul rest in peace,” Evie bravely wished her lip trembling just a bit as she swallowed hard and straightened. Mal smiled at Evie sadly, placing her hand on Evie’s face gently and wiping away a tear before letting her hand fall back to Evie’s.

“More like in pieces,” Mal heard Uma murmur unfortunately not as quiet as the pirate thought she had been.

Evie glanced at Uma for only a moment before bursting into tears once again. Mal groaned, and Uma’s eyes went wide as Mal glared at her.

“Uma!”


	4. The Disappointment

“Is there some reason we have to take her out in a wheelchair?” Mal asked somewhat nervously, as she hurried alongside the nurse that was pushing Evie along in the wheelchair. The old lady just chuckled and shook her head. Evie smiled sweetly at Mal, albeit significantly less brightly than it usually was. But everything about Evie’s happiness seemed to be dulled since she found out the news yesterday.

“It’s hospital procedure. Whether you’re able to walk or not, we’ve gotta do it,” the nurse told Mal good-naturedly, and Mal just sighed, extremely uncomfortable with the entire thing. Evie’s smile slowly faded away as she pursed her lips slightly.

Since yesterday, nothing had been right in Evie’s world, and despite how much she enjoyed the attention she had received and how much she loved Mal staying with her overnight in the hospital, she was still terribly upset about Charlene. And now that they were leaving the hospital and Uma, Audrey, and Jane were picking them up in Uma’s Hummer, Evie seemed even more glum.

Mal knew that it was because Uma’s Hummer just reminded Evie of Charlene, and it was horribly painful to see Evie in such agony over the vehicle’s loss.

“So, you’re one hundred percent sure she’s not paralyzed or something?”

“Yes, your Majesty, I’m sure,” the old woman smiled, and Mal could tell that she wanted to laugh in response to Mal’s statement. Mal knew that she probably sounded paranoid, but after being convinced that she had lost Evie, she couldn’t help but find herself somewhat protective. Of course, that was likely an understatement of massive proportions.

They came out of the front doors and Mal honestly wasn’t sure whether she was thankful or unhappy to see Uma’s Hummer parked before the front doors. Largely, what caused this conflict of feelings was the fact that the pirate was blasting “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown inside the vehicle.

Evie immediately looked up, and Mal almost thought she was going to get to see one of those one-thousand-watt grins from her best friend--- after all, it was one of Evie’s favorite songs--- but she was sorely disappointed when Evie just looked a bit teary-eyed before getting it together.

“My Country Music Awesome Mix DVD was in her when it happened,” Evie muttered, and Mal felt a stab to her heart as she heard Evie’s words. Both Evie’s favorite music collection with her baby all gone in one day? Mal couldn’t hardly bear to think about it.

Uma rolled down the tinted window and the music started playing even louder.

“Hey! It’s ‘The Git Up!’ Your favorite, right?!” Uma yelled, and Evie nodded a bit, her smile dulled significantly. Uma lost a bit of her grin as she turned off the music quickly.

“Yo, nice wheels,” Uma commented, pulling down the pair of sunglasses she had to waggle an eyebrow. Evie almost laughed, but it didn’t quite come to her face. Mal could easily see Audrey chilling in the passenger seat, looking somewhere between having the time of her life and dying of mortification.

“But I got better ones. You wanna hop in the back and test ‘em out?” Uma asked, patting the driver’s door of her car as she accentuated her words with a wicked grin. Evie sighed slightly, offering Uma the barest of smiles that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

Uma’s smile fell as Evie just got up from the wheelchair, thanking the nurse before heading to the back of the vehicle where Jane was seated inside. Mal looked at Uma regretfully, feeling bad for the pirate.

Mal knew that Uma was just trying to cheer Evie up, because despite Uma’s words, she really did care about the bluenette and wanted to make sure she was alright. Uma obviously felt bad for Evie and was trying to make her feel better by doing everything in her power to make things fun.

Mal quickly noticed that Evie was having some trouble pulling herself up into the vehicle, so the faerie wasted no time in helping to push Evie up, shoving a bit against her. Evie easily made it the rest of the way, and Mal followed along, sitting next to the bluenette as they buckled in the large vehicle.

“Alright. Y’all ready to go?” Uma asked, looking in her rearview mirror at the three girls in the back.

“Ready,” Mal agreed, and Uma began driving.

For a long time on the road, things were terribly quiet outside of the radio playing some Florida Georgia Line song lowly, and Uma occasionally humming to the tune. Something about Evie and her deeply saddened mood was keeping even Audrey and Uma from arguing as they usually did. Mal offered her hand to Evie, and Evie took it easily. Mal couldn’t help but smile softly, enjoying Evie’s closeness.

Of course, since the entire thing happened, Evie had been even clingier than usual, and she hadn’t hardly released Mal ever since she found out about the car. In fact, Evie was now leaning into Mal heavily, letting the faerie hold her up in the seat. Mal rested her head against Evie’s, giving Evie all the contact she so desired.

However, their silence was suddenly disrupted when Mal’s phone went off in a notification that she had received a text.

Mal furrowed her brow as she pulled out her phone to look at it. To her surprise, it was a text from Ben. Evie angled her head a bit better to look at the phone alongside Mal, and Mal pulled up the text on the screen.

“ _Bring Evie here when you come back. I’ve got a surprise for her ;)_ ”

Evie brightened up just a tiny bit, and Mal smiled widely, not having any idea what it could be but certainly pleased with the fact that it had made Evie happier than she had been feeling. Mal wasted no time in texting him back.

“We will. Don’t say anything else because she’s looking at my phone rn,” Mal replied, and Evie shot a playful glare at Mal, and Mal just grinned widely at the girl, enjoying Evie’s increase in happiness.

“Hey, Uma, change of plans. We need to go to the castle,” Mal told Uma, and Uma raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Mal, completely unimpressed.

“Do I look like Alfonzo or whatever Princess’s butler’s name is?” Uma questioned, and Mal chuckled at the look on Audrey’s face as her gaze snapped to Uma’s.

“It’s Alfred!” Audrey cried, looking at Uma as if she was completely offended at the name. Uma just shrugged, largely ignoring Audrey’s comment with a slight smirk.

“Whatever,” Uma shot back, dismissively waving off Audrey.

“Ben’s got a surprise for Evie,” Mal told the pirate, and Uma’s eyes immediately softened as she shrugged.

“Hmph. We might could drop by for a minute. But keep in mind that you’re seriously inconveniencing me,” Uma informed Mal, her voice saying conveying anything but irritation. In fact, Mal found it to be a tone of relief.

“Yeah, as the turn for the castle is right there and only one steer away,” Audrey pointed out, and Uma wasted no time in turning the Hummer onto the road to the castle. Uma rolled her eyes at the princess.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Uma halfheartedly bit at the princess, and Evie looked at Mal somewhat curiously.

“What do you think it is, M?” Evie questioned almost accusingly but with a light in her eyes as she tried to get to the bottom of the entire ordeal, and Mal raised her hands up in defense.

“I have no idea. He didn’t tell me anything about a surprise,” Mal replied, and Evie huffed a bit, almost looking like an impatient child.

Before too much longer, they pulled into the driveway of the castle. To Mal’s surprise, there was Ben standing there in the garage, his back leaned against what looked to be a vehicle covered in a sheet.

Mal furrowed her brow, and Uma parked before she pulled in the garage. Mal wasted no time in getting out of the Hummer and helping Evie down from it.

“Ben, what’s this?” Mal questioned as she watched Evie’s face. Evie had a look on her face that communicated almost trepidation, but also hope. Mal felt her stomach, knowing what the hope meant.

Anyone could easily tell that Evie was getting a vehicle of some sort, and Evie obviously realized this as well.

Which was why she was hoping. Hoping that by some shred of the imagination that it had all been a cruel joke and Charlene was underneath that sheet.

And Mal knew it couldn’t be the blue Jeep Renegade. Carlos and Jay sent her the picture they had taken when they drove by the junkyard, and it was obvious that the Jeep would never ride again after the accident.

“Well, I’ve got something special for Evie. It’s not much, but I thought that she could certainly use it,” Ben started as he started to clutch at the sheet.

“So, I really hope this puts a smile on your face, sister-in-law of mine,” Ben grinned widely at Evie, and Evie had a bit of a building smile on her face as she looked between him and the covered vehicle.

“Surprise!” Ben cried as he yanked the sheet off of the vehicle sitting there in the garage. Evie’s eyes went wide as she gaped at the vehicle, and Mal could almost see Evie swallow her tongue. Mal could easily recognize the expression, because she was currently having to force herself to look anything but what she was feeling right now. She could hear Audrey gasp in horror, and Uma snorted hard as she almost laughed.

There before them was the ugliest vehicle that any of them had ever laid eyes on. It was a silver 2014 Nissan Cube in all of its glory resting there, just waiting to be driven.

“What do you think?!” Ben questioned, his chest puffed as he very proudly presented it to the girls. Evie stood there in complete shock for a long moment, her mouth working with no words coming out.

“It’s… It’s a car!” Evie pointed out, and Uma laughed as she walked up beside Mal and Evie.

“It’s a car, alright. The ugliest car I’ve ever---” Mal swiftly elbowed Uma in the side, keeping her from getting too far in that statement. Uma shot Mal a glare before rolling her eyes. Fortunately, Ben just grinned widely, and Mal relievedly noted that he didn’t seem to have noticed Uma’s words.

“Hey, I know it’s no Charlene, but I thought you might could use her until you can pick out a car yourself,” Ben informed Evie, patting the hood of the vehicle, and Evie swallowed hard. Mal looked at Evie as the bluenette forced a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Ben… I just… Wow. I don’t even know what to say,” Evie stammered, trying to look as grateful as she possibly could when Mal could easily tell that Evie could cry right now. And most certainly not tears of happiness.

“Well, you don’t have to say anything at all. I’m just glad I could get you something. You were just so sad yesterday when I came to visit, and I just thought, ‘Welp! I’ll get her something to cheer her up!’ So, I did,” Ben excitedly retold his side of the story, and Evie nodded, stepping forward as she offered the boy a one-armed hug.

“You’re so sweet. Thank you so much,” Evie told him before pulling away carefully to look at the vehicle before her. They stood there a bit awkwardly for a long moment, until Mal cleared her throat and rushed over.

“Yes! Ben, you did wonderfully, dear! I kind of wish you would’ve told me about this, but it was wonderful!” Mal exclaimed, forcing that lie through her teeth, and she could feel Uma’s smirk on her back.

“I’m sorry. I would have, but I had to act fast if I was going to get this for Evie before she came home,” Ben smiled at Mal, leaning down for a kiss, and Mal gave him one swiftly. After a moment, however, Ben’s phone buzzed, and he pulled away to look at it. He sighed slightly, looking at Mal somewhat regretfully.

“I’ve got to go to a meeting,” Ben slightly grumbled.

“You need me?” Mal asked, figuring she’d offer despite the fact that she’d much rather be here with Evie and the girls. Thankfully for her, Ben shook his head.

“Nah. Besides, I know you hate those, and I wouldn’t make you go through that unless it was something seriously important,” Ben informed her with a slight wink, and she smiled at him, rolling her eyes slightly.

“A bunch of old codgers ranting the morning report?”

“Pretty much,” Ben chuckled, and Mal knew the statement was a bit hard for him to agree with because he had been raised so strongly to respect elders and the governing bodies.

“Well, I’ll see you later then,” Mal told him, and they shared one quick kiss goodbye before he left. Mal immediately turned her attentions to Evie.

“Man, I didn’t know they made cars as ugly as this,” Uma spoke aloud, but despite how much Mal wanted to verbally agree with that statement, she more fully focused her attention on Evie who was standing there and staring at the car before her.

“I don’t know… I don’t think it’s so bad,” Jane commented, and Mal could feel the whiplash from Uma’s swift double-take.

“Have you no taste?!” Uma demanded, and Audrey made a noise of agreement.

“That has to be a solid nine on my list of ugly vehicles,” Audrey commented, and Uma scoffed.

“Gosh, what kind of a scale are you grading on? On mine, this thing’s a one-hundred and nine,” Uma proclaimed before she hmphed in confusion.

“What exactly is a ten on your scale?”

“Probably your Hummer.”

“Oh, now you whistled a different tune when I first got it. Even you had to admit it was pretty and shiny,” Uma shot back, and Mal watched Evie as she looked over the vehicle.

Mal stepped a bit closer, and Evie slowly opened the driver’s door of the vehicle and she started to get inside of it. Mal looked at Audrey, Jane, and Uma, and the arguing pair stopped talking in order to follow Evie into the car.

Mal wasted no time in getting in the passenger’s seat and shut the door behind her. Evie pulled her own door closed with her good arm and the other girls took their traditional seats in the back.

Evie looked around the car, her eyes a bit glazed over as she looked at the interior, and Mal felt her heart breaking for Evie as she knew what the bluenette must be thinking. It was not anything close to Charlene, and it upset her horribly. Evie reached her good arm down to her pocket and Mal could easily see her fiddling with the hula-skirt girl figurine that used to be resting on Charlene’s dash.

“Wow, it sure is nice on the inside,” Jane noted in a murmur, and Evie seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in as she shook her head, the tears finally resurfacing as she withdrew her hand from the figure.

“She’s so ugly,” Evie sniffled, trying to keep it together. Mal reached over to Evie, squeezing Evie’s shoulder above her cast.

“E, I know she’s not Charlene---”

“She’s horrible! She’s… She’s a _Gladys_ ,” Evie whispered, and Uma busted out into laughter. Evie turned and looked at Uma, her eyes shining with wetness, and Uma shut up quickly.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that Gladys is a hilarious name for a fitting joke-mobile,” Uma expressed, trying to keep her laughter in check. Evie sighed shakily, looking at Mal in something that could only be described as complete and utter dejection.

“Look, it’s really not so bad, Blue,” Uma attempted to reassure, and Mal stroked Evie’s hair as she leaned across the area between the seats to rest her head on Evie’s shoulder. “I was just joking, and I’m sure Gladys would make a good temporary car for you.”

Evie just nodded before resting her head on Mal’s.

“It’s alright, Uma, don’t worry about it,” Evie defeatedly told the pirate, and Uma looked down at her hands unhappily.

Mal closed her eyes and they all sat there together for a long moment. However, after a moment, Mal’s voice interrupted the silence.

“Uma, let’s go to Evie’s place, okay?” Mal questioned quietly, and Uma wasted no time in getting out of the vehicle to go and drive the Hummer parked nearby with Audrey hurrying out close behind her.

Mal got out of the hideous car, and she looked at Jane, seeing how the daughter of the Fairy Godmother was looking so longingly at the box-shaped vehicle. Mal looked between the car and Jane, with a slight smile on her face.

“Jane, would you mind following us to Evie’s place in this? We need it there so it looks like Evie liked it and Ben doesn’t get his feelings hurt or anything,” Mal told the girl, and Jane’s face lit up in a wide smile.

“Really?”

“Yeah, go on,” Mal encouraged, and as Evie got out of the Nissan, Jane hurried around the vehicle to hop into it eagerly.

And as Mal and Evie wrapped an arm around one another, heading over to Uma’s vehicle, Mal could only think one thing as Evie so sadly drifted next to her.

They had to fix this.

And there was only one way to do it.


	5. The Mission

“So… You know that old saying about not being able to see the forest for all of the trees? Well, I think we’re living that saying right now,” Uma proclaimed as she, Audrey, Mal, and Jane wandered through the rows of cars at the Jeep dealership, trying to spot a 2019 Jeep Renegade.

Mal had ended up sleeping over with Evie the previous night, and during that night, she had texted Uma, Audrey, and Jane and told them her idea to fix absolutely everything for Evie and hopefully bring that beautiful smile back to her face. Of course, the other three had eagerly agreed and jumped at the opportunity to cheer Evie up.

Mal had told Evie that she had to meet with Uma and it was super important. Naturally, Evie had asked to come with Mal, and Mal told her that she needed to stay home and rest her head after that concussion. Very unhappily, Evie agreed, and Mal had to practically fight Evie off of her just to get to the door.

So, once she finally got away, the four of them left early that morning, and now they were looking through a ton of cars at the Jeep dealership in an attempt to find a carbon copy of Charlene. They planned to order all of the customizations that Evie had in her vehicle when she crashed it, and after they were through finding a new Charlene body, they’d get Evie’s accessories and customizations from the original Charlene in the junkyard. When they were through, they aimed to have the vehicle looking exactly as it had before Evie went on that fateful drive.

“Maybe so, but we’ve got to find a Jeep Renegade,” Mal informed the girls as she scanned the vehicles within her line of sight.

“I swear, this new model looks _just_ like Evie’s 2019 one,” Audrey acknowledged as she gestured at the vehicle parked nearby. Mal sighed, noting that there were a hardly any differences between this vehicle and Evie’s Charlene. However, it was the principle of the thing. She wanted to recreate Charlene with absolutely nothing different about the vehicle.

“And I ain’t seeing one of those 2019 models,” Uma expressed, and Mal unhappily found that Uma’s words were indeed quite true.

“We might have to get her a newer model if they don’t have the 2019 one,” Mal commented with a furrowed brow. She most certainly didn’t want to take anything that was different from Charlene, but she was willing to do what she could.

“Are you absolutely sure we couldn’t get her the Wrangler? That thing was hot!” Uma told Mal, and Audrey rolled her eyes as she looked through the vehicles.

“How exactly are cars hot? That’s an adjective used to describe people,” Audrey replied to the pirate, and Uma just looked at her without even a hint of a smile.

“Or temperature, if you want to get even more technical on me, Princess,” Uma shot back, and Audrey made a bit of a sour face. At that, Uma smirked, enjoying the reaction she was getting from the girl.

They walked a little further before Uma suddenly paused, her eyes going wide.

“What in the--- look at this thing!” Uma cried, and she hurried over to an oddly shaped Jeep nearby. Audrey and Jane followed her over, and Mal just paused to look at the others. Uma hummed under her breath as she noted the name on the Jeep.

“A Gladiator,” Uma muttered to herself before heading around the rear of the vehicle. Instead of the traditional setup that made a Jeep similar to a car, the Jeep had a bed that made it strongly resemble a truck.

“Dang, this thing looks as funky as your hot pink Honda,” Uma insulted Audrey’s vehicle, and Audrey narrowed her eyes at Uma.

“My Honda is beautiful! Not funky!”

“That thing looks like you got it out of the girl’s section of the toy department,” Uma pointed out, and Audrey scoffed in irritation. Uma examined the back of the vehicle for a long moment before looking at Audrey with a smile.

“Hey, pop a camper top on the back and Evie will be riding in style with plenty of room to haul all of her crap,” Uma informed the group, and Audrey quirked a brow.

“Can you see Evie in a truck?” Audrey questioned, and Uma snorted at the mental image.

“Then she’d definitely think she was a cowgirl,” Uma replied, and both her and Audrey laughed as they thought of Evie’s fascination with old Westerns and country music.

“Probably talking in that terrible impression of a Southern accent,” Audrey expressed, and Uma chuckled.

“Probably blasting ‘Old Town Road,’” Uma added, and Audrey nodded wholeheartedly.

“Y’know, there seriously is a proper way to talk in a Southern accent. You don’t overaccentuate your words, you just kind of talk a little lazier,” Uma informed Audrey, and Audrey slowly nodded, the look on her face very much skeptical.

Mal rolled her eyes, thinking that since Uma acted like she knew everything, Mal would make fun of her. She knew that Uma was right about the accent thing, but it still didn’t keep Mal from wanting to at least challenge her a little.

“Honestly, I thought it was ‘I’m fixin’ to head down yonder to that there creek and git us up some of them there ol’ frog legs, Pappy Joe, ha-har, ha-har,’” Mal tried to sound like how Uma said that country people didn’t sound and how Evie usually tried to sound, and Uma just squinted as she stared at the faerie that had came over to the others.

“Man, that was horrible,” Uma commented, and all four of them laughed heartily at Mal’s attempt. “Genevieve has certainly corrupted you.”

“Yeah, maybe so,” Mal chuckled looking at the Jeep Gladiator a bit better. She furrowed her brow, pursing her lips. “Hey, you know what?”

“What?”

“I think this thing looks like a car grew a tumor on the back of itself,” Mal pointed out as she patted the vehicle and headed back out in the center pathway that went between the cars.

“Yeah, but she sure would love it,” Jane pointed out, and Mal shook her head as she looked at the other girls from her position nearby a Jeep Cherokee.

“There’s room for only one car in her heart, though, and unless she all of a sudden decides she’s going to make like my mother in her first marriage, that’s not going to change anytime soon,” Mal expressed, and Uma furrowed her brow as the three of them followed after Mal down through the rows of vehicles.

“Who else has she been married to?” Uma questioned curiously.

“She’s in a pretty serious relationship right now with herself. She likes to call it ‘self-partnered,’” Mal air-quoted, and Audrey and Jane couldn’t help but laugh at the words. Uma raised her eyebrows in consideration.

“Man, maybe I should’ve thought of that before I got with Harry,” Uma pointed out, and Mal just smiled knowingly, well aware of just how fond Uma actually was of the Hook boy.

They walked along for a long moment, examining all the cars, until Jane suddenly cried out.

“Guys! I think I found it!” Jane announced, and Mal, Uma, and Audrey rushed over.

As soon as Mal looked at it, she knew. This was the car. This was the only one in the whole lot that could even begin to replace Charlene. Mal grinned widely and she looked at Jane sweetly.

“Great job, Jane. Now we’ve just got to buy it, drop it off at the mechanic shop and get it fixed up.”

Soon enough, they had bought the Jeep from the dealership and Mal had driven the vehicle to the mechanic shop with Uma’s Hummer following her there.

Mal parked the Jeep in the garage, and she got out of the Jeep, a dirty, grime-covered girl coming up to her and extending her hand with a smile that was reminiscent of someone Mal knew well.

“Hi! Welcome to Golding’s Auto Shop! I’m Tessa Golding, how can I help you?” Mal easily shook the girl’s hand, and despite how grimy she was and how she had obviously been under a vehicle recently if the smell of oil was anything to go by, but she truly reminded her of someone. Something about the sparkle in her eyes, that one-thousand-watt grin, and that height of her stature.

“Hi, I’m Mal. Do you know an Evie Queen, by chance?” Mal questioned, hearing footsteps behind her, and knowing that the other three in her group were approaching. Tessa’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“So you’re the infamous Mal! Oh, yeah, Evie’s talked so much about you,” Tessa grinned, still holding Mal’s hand in hers as she spoke. However, she loosened her grip slightly as a piece of information seemed to dawn upon her.

“Oh… So that means… You’re the queen, too!” Tessa slowly realized and as soon as she did, she jerked her hand away from Mal’s as she grabbed an oil rag out of her pocket that was coated in smudges of black.

“I’m so sorry! Let me get that off of you!” Tessa apologized, and Mal quickly withdrew her hand, raising it up swiftly as she tried to keep Tessa from making it even nastier with her rag.

“That’s okay, that’s okay! And please don’t be formal with me. I’m just a normal person, no better or worse than anybody else,” Mal assured her, and Tessa carefully nodded, understanding as she stuffed her rag in her pocket.

“Might be worse than anybody else actually,” Uma muttered, and Mal at that point was absolutely certain that the other three were right behind her. It was all Mal could do to avoid rolling her eyes, but she wanted to avoid looking rude and scaring the girl before her, so she held her slight irritation back.

“But to answer your other question, yes. I do know Evie. I’m actually the one that works on Charlene every time she brings her in,” Tessa informed her, and Mal nodded.

“Okay, cool. So, let me start my story. The other day, Evie got into an accident---”

“Oh, no! Is she okay?” Tessa questioned concernedly, and Mal smiled at the girl’s concern before nodding.

“Just a broken arm and a concussion, fortunately. But she wrecked Charlene and now Charlene’s out of commission.”

“Don’t worry, I can fix a banged-up car in a jiffy, and Charlene will be back---”

“Permanently,” Mal finished.

“Oh… Okay… How is she taking it?” Tessa asked, wincing a little with her eyes filled with worry and care, and Mal decided that she really liked this girl. Whoever she reminded her of was someone that Mal obviously really liked a lot.

“Not well at all. Which is why we got her this today as a surprise,” Mal explained as she stepped back and patted the hood of the blue Jeep Renegade. Tessa grinned widely at the sight of the vehicle.

“She’s a beaut. A real spitting image of Charlene. Well… If you’re not counting those standard tires under her. And the lack of ol’ hula skirt girl on the dash,” Tessa pointed at the various parts of the car, and Mal nodded eagerly, excited as she got closer to her ultimate point of coming to the shop.

“That’s actually why we came to talk to you. I was wondering if I could possibly order the exact same customizations that Evie put on Charlene for this car. I’d be willing to pay you extra if you could do it as soon as possible,” Mal told the girl, and Tessa swiftly agreed.

“Of course! I can order them with the two-day shipping and install them ASAP. In all, it’ll probably take me about four days to get it all together and put on the car, but if I were you, I’d call and check on me in three days. The fourth day’s me giving myself some room in case something should happen,” Tessa told her easily with a shrug and a happy smile, and Mal grinned widely.

“Awesome. Do you need payment now?” Mal questioned, starting to rummage in her pocket, but Tessa held out a hand to stop her.

“No, no, don’t worry about it. You can take care of that after I get this girl fixed up.”

“Besides… With how much Evie talks about you plus the fact that you’re even going to all of the trouble to do this for her, I’d be stupid to not think you were perfectly trustworthy,” Tessa told her with an easy smile as she fiddled with her ponytail pulled tightly near the top of her head.

However, as she realized that she might have been being a bit too loose, she quickly added, “And you’re the queen, of course, so automatic trustworthiness and all that.”

“Tessa, I like it much better when you’re informal and aren’t treating me like an untouchable Queen,” Mal expressed honestly, reaching out for Tessa’s hand to shake it once more. Tessa, with a smile somewhere between sheepish and pleased, took Mal’s hand in her own firmly.

“I’ll call you,” Mal said, and Tessa smiled.

“Sure thing. I won’t let you down,” Tessa assured, and Mal nodded before turning back to head to Uma’s Hummer. Mal still had a bit of a smile on her face as she tried to place precisely who Tessa was similar to. It was on the tip of her tongue.

Mal turned her head to look at her, and she watched Tessa do one of those silly-hurry walks like Evie so often did. Mal pursed her lips a bit, but ultimately shrugged it off, deciding she liked Tessa and it really didn’t matter who she was similar to.

“Mm, mm, mm,” Uma punctuated the three syllables with a bit of a chuckle, and Mal looked to her expectantly and somewhat curiously.

“What?”

“I got you two words. Brown. Noser,” Uma told Mal, insulting as always but a warmness hidden in her eyes as she easily showed that she liked how the girl operated as opposed to how most people acted about the Queen. Mal just rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the pirate as they pulled themselves up and into Uma’s Hummer. The four of them buckled in and Uma cranked it.

They drove down the road, and before too much longer, they arrived at the junkyard that Evie’s vehicle was supposed to be in. As Uma pulled into the place, Audrey winced in disgust.

“Ew! This place is horrible!” Audrey proclaimed, and Uma shrugged.

“Not too much worse than the Isle, to be honest,” Uma expressed, and Audrey looked at her strangely, trying to gauge how serious she was. Mal knew that Uma was actually quite right, so when Audrey looked back at Mal, Mal shrugged. Audrey suddenly looked terribly disturbed before looking out the window again at the garbage and wreckage.

“Hey, Uma, stop. There’s Charlene,” Mal pointed out, and Uma nodded as she parked the vehicle.

They all got out and walked over to the car.

Charlene truly did look positively awful, and Mal swallowed hard as she examined the damage. So easily, Evie could’ve been hurt badly. If the airbags had not have deployed when they did, Evie would have been catapulted straight into a tree. Mal couldn’t help but feel a swell of emotion in her throat as she looked at the damage.

Charlene had taken the fall for Evie. And gosh, was Mal thankful for it.

Once Mal finished looking over the vehicle, she stepped closer to it. Mal opened Charlene’s front door and looked inside of the vehicle, figuring out what she needed to get from inside. Up front, there was nothing much to see besides warped interior, so Mal just grabbed the fuzzy steering wheel cover.

Suddenly, before she quite knew what was going on, a man started yelling.

“What’re you girls doing?!” he called, and Mal turned to face him, guessing that he was likely the man who ran the junkyard if the hat was anything to go by.

As soon as he laid eyes on her, his eyes went wide and he took his hat off quickly, bowing.

“Your Majesty!” he respectfully spoke, and Mal chuckled a bit, very uncomfortable with the official title.

“I just thought I saw some kids snooping around in other people’s cars, and I just wanted to see who it was. I had no idea it would be you!” he told her, attempting to explain himself, and Mal shook her head.

“No, of course. I understand. You were protecting my sister’s car and doing a really good job of it,” Mal expressed with a smile, and he nodded.

“Next time, just be mindful of who you’re speaking to, got it, bub?” Uma informed him, strolling a little closer, and Mal knew that at this point, Uma was just enjoying scaring him as his eyes widened.

“You don’t just have the High Queen on your hands, but you have the Captain of the Guard,” Uma pointed to herself, “the princess of Auroria,” she gestured at Audrey, “and the daughter of the Fairy Godmother,” Uma finished, looking at Jane.

“Oh, of course, of course, I didn’t mean---”

“Don’t worry about it, sir, the _Captain of the Guard_ is just a little too self-important,” Audrey interrupted, reserving special sarcasm for Uma’s title. Uma’s gaze snapped to Audrey’s.

“Me? Self-important? You sure you ain’t looking in one of these old hooptie’s mirrors?” Uma asked, and Audrey glowered, no doubt about to start arguing when Mal quickly interjected.

“We’re just going to look in the car and get my sister’s things out. Is that okay with you?” Mal questioned, and he nodded eagerly.

“Yes, yes, take whatever you want.”

Mal smiled slightly, and she then turned back to look through the car. Uma first checked the backseat with Audrey and Jane. She furrowed her brow as she pulled out an old Fastbreak from underneath Evie’s seat.

“Huh. I found where Evie stashes her snacks,” Uma pointed out, and Audrey furrowed her brow in disgust as she grabbed the dress Evie was delivering from the seat and handed it to Jane. However, Audrey almost gagged when Uma took a bite out of what was left of the chocolate candy bar and hummed in satisfaction at the taste.

“OH! EW! What is wrong with you?!” Audrey cried, sounding two seconds away from barding.

“Hey, chill. I figured ol’ Blue wouldn’t be the kind to leave an old candy bar under her seat, so it had to have been like new. In fact, it tasted pretty good. Not a minute over four days, I’d wager,” Uma estimated its age as she popped what was left into her mouth. Audrey shuddered, and Uma largely ignored her in favor of looking around a bit more.

“OOH!”

“Gosh, what now?!” Uma demanded, and Audrey just ignored Uma as she pulled out her sunglasses from Evie’s pocket on the back of the seat.

“I found my sunglasses!”

“Good! I can finally steal them from you again!” Uma exclaimed, sounding genuinely thrilled as she reached over toward the princess, aiming to take the glasses. Audrey wasted no time in withdrawing, and Uma just huffed at her.

“What a spoilsport,” Uma mumbled under her breath before withdrawing from the car and heading around to the back. With a bit of a heave, Uma opened the trunk part of the vehicle and groaned deeply.

“Oh, no…”

“What?” Mal asked as she looked at the pirate, pulling out from her position in the front of the car.

“She’s got a ton of junk back here,” Uma whined unhappily in a manner that was so uncharacteristic of her that it was just terribly amusing.

They all laughed at Uma, but went to help her pick up all of the things out of the back and transfer them to Uma’s car.

In fact, with all four of them working as they were, they were soon on the road again.

In only three to four days, they would hopefully completely turn Evie’s frown upside down.


	6. The Happy Ending

“Evie!” Mal called out in a scold, and Evie’s eyes went wide as she used her free hand to hide the object behind her back and attempt to look innocent as she leaned against the counter.

“Hmm?” Evie hummed in response, pulling off her sweetest face as she looked at Mal. Mal raised an eyebrow, but she honestly couldn’t even find herself that mad at Evie. She was entirely too excited for what she was about to show the girl in just a few minutes.

Uma, Audrey, and Jane had all went to Golding’s Auto Shop to pick up Charlene 2.0, and they were supposed to be on their way back soon. Mal was staying with Evie as she had been for the past few days, and she was going to keep Evie occupied until they brought 2.0 in the yard and covered it with a sheet.

After the accident, Mal had absolutely refused to take her eyes off of Evie, and it was only partly due to the need to keep watch over the injured girl. It was primarily because of her intense fear as a result of Evie’s crash. It was an emotion that had seemed to be carrying over in the next few days, and it made Mal especially jittery and needy in the concern that she wanted to be near Evie all the time.

Of course, given Evie’s personality, it was heaven for Evie. Mal could easily see that Evie reveled in the attention and ate it up just as hungrily as she did whenever Mal offered it to her.

So now Mal was standing here in the kitchen, face-to-face with an extremely guilty Genevieve as she barely kept the smile of excitement off of her face so Evie wouldn’t get suspicious or start questioning things.

“What’s behind your back?” Mal finally asked her, and Evie shook her head.

“Nothing! Nothing at all,” Evie assured Mal, putting on one of those giant one-thousand-watt grins. Mal couldn’t help but disappointedly notice that it did not meet Evie’s eyes despite the brightness of the smile.

Mal raised an eyebrow at Evie, and Evie’s grin slightly faded as she pursed her lips a bit, trying to look at least somewhat convincing.

Mal came closer to Evie, deciding that she’d trick Evie into exposing her actions. Mal offered Evie a hug, extending her arms, and Evie wasted no time in returning the sentiment from her position leaned against the counter. Evie rested her head on top of Mal’s, and as soon as Mal could feel that Evie had completely sunk into the hug, Mal reached around the bluenette and grabbed the utensil on the counter.

“Aha!” Mal cried as she pulled away from Evie, holding up the fork in her hand. Evie was immediately terribly and awfully sheepish, and she looked between the fork and Mal somewhat embarrassedly.

“I told you not to scratch under your cast with a fork. That’s just going to irritate it,” Mal chastised, and Evie just chuckled a bit, truly having nothing to say for herself. Mal tossed the fork into the sink, and Evie looked longingly after it. Mal then took Evie good arm and led her toward the living room so that they could sit down.

“Y’know, I can’t believe that I’m the one telling you to behave,” Mal sighed deeply as she leaned her head against Evie. Evie reciprocated the gesture, chuckling lightly, and Mal considered it a great victory considering how Evie had been the past few days.

“That really is amazing, isn’t it?” Evie replied, and Mal looked up at her and stuck her tongue out, almost licking Evie’s face, and Evie just leaned away slightly. Evie just gazed down at Mal affectionately from her craned neck’s position as they both sat down on the couch together.

“Why are you so ridiculously tall?” Mal questioned, dramatically throwing her head back against the couch, and Evie smiled a bit.

“I don’t know. But it’s certainly an advantage sometimes,” Evie replied, and Mal laid the back of her hand against her head in a ridiculous gesture.

“Alas, woe is me,” Mal groaned deeply and sincerely, but there was an undertone of joking. She was hoping to draw out one of those sweet, snorting Evie laughs. Disappointingly, there was no snort, but there was a laugh. Mal peeked out from behind her hand to look at Evie, and she figured that she’d take whatever she could get from the other girl.

“Hi, Woe, I’m Evie,” Evie greeted, and Mal covered her eyes again with a huff.

“That was just as bad as Dad’s jokes,” Mal told the bluenette, and Evie smiled widely, quite proud of herself. Mal was really thankful to see a genuine big grin on the girl’s face.

“That’s because it was a _dad_ joke,” Evie told Mal, and Mal narrowed her eyes at Evie as she removed her hand.

“You’re on a real roll here, aren’t you?” Mal questioned, and Evie laughed before looking at Mal fondly.

“Only because I have you,” Evie expressed, getting serious as she rested her head against Mal’s once again. Mal nestled closer to Evie’s side, listening to the bluenette’s heartbeat. Evie sighed deeply in contentment as she placed her chin on Mal’s head.

“Thank you, M,” Evie mumbled, and Mal furrowed her brow as she rested her ear over Evie’s heart.

“Well, you’re welcome, but for what?” Mal asked somewhat bluntly, and Evie swallowed. Mal could almost hear the gears turning in the bluenette’s head, and Mal patiently waited her out.

“For helping me through this.”

“Evie, I---”

“I know normal people aren’t like this about their cars, but I really did love Charlene, and I just… I just don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you there for me these past few days,” Evie expressed, her voice trembling a bit, and Mal felt her heart break in her chest as she mentally wished the three girls would hurry up with the surprise. The faerie leaned up, kissing the side of Evie’s head before melting against her best friend once again.

“E, you’ll always have me. And it’s perfectly normal to love material things. I’m really in love with my lucky pencil,” Mal told Evie, and Evie chuckled a bit, pressing her lips to Mal’s hair as she breathed in quietly.

“The one you couldn’t take a test without back in Auradon Prep?” Evie questioned against Mal’s head in a muffled murmur, and the faerie nodded in reply.

“You always were fond of that pencil,” Evie commented, and Mal chuckled, enjoying Evie’s closeness and warmth as she wrapped Mal in a one-armed embrace.

“Yeah. So don’t act like it’s weird for you to love your car,” Mal told her, and Evie nodded, resting her cheek on Mal’s head.

“Okay. I won’t,” Evie replied, and Mal felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Mal stiffened ever so slightly, but loosened just as quickly as she surreptitiously felt for her phone and replied to Evie.

“Good,” Mal told her, her hand grabbing her phone.

“You’re such a wonderful sister and best friend,” Evie complimented, looking at Mal with that expression that communicated the utmost affection and love for Mal, and always made the purple-haired girl feel mushy and happy inside. Mal smiled at Evie, unable to help experiencing the feeling even thought she was currently trying not to let Evie catch onto the entire surprise with the other three girls and trying to hide her excitement for Evie to see her surprise.

Mal smiled at Evie, and then moved away from the bluenette to shift positions, putting her legs in Evie’s lap as she checked the phone. Evie looked at her somewhat strangely but didn’t say anything as she watched Mal carefully.

Mal tapped her messages, and she very happily noted that Uma was informing her that the three had apparently came up outside and were ready for Mal and Evie to join them. They must have been really quiet when they drove the Jeep into the yard, and Uma must have parked her Hummer near the end of the driveway so nobody would hear its motor running.

Mal looked up at Evie, swiftly thinking of a plausible story for why they needed to go outside.

“Hey, E, we need to head out,” Mal informed Evie, and Evie gazed at her strangely.

“Why?” Evie questioned, furrowing her brow, and Mal started to sit up. Evie mirrored her actions.

“Apparently, Uma wants us to come over to her place. Something about a movie,” Mal told Evie, and Evie accepted the answer. However, Mal could see that Evie was slightly skeptical, but that was likely because she was suspicious of what Uma’s movie choice could be.

“Gosh, I hope it’s not _The Texas_ _Chain Saw Massacre_ ,” Evie somewhat whined as she stood up with Mal. Mal chuckled in reply to Evie’s complaint as she headed around the couch with Evie close beside her.

“Hopefully not. Hey, she might pick out Christine this time,” Mal joked lightly, really hoping that she wasn’t going overboard with the joke as she referenced the 1983 film about a possessed vehicle. Evie looked at her and actually laughed, so Mal loosened a bit as she took Evie’s hand.

“That wasn’t funny,” Evie informed her, lifting their joined hands and pointing at Mal. Mal just smiled proudly and somewhat smugly.

“You laughed, so it counts,” Mal called Evie out, and Evie sighed a bit as she pushed against Mal’s shoulder lightly.

Mal opened the door to the front lawn, and they both headed out. Mal and Evie both headed through the walkway that approached the driveway, and Mal smiled as she caught sight of the other girls.

There before them was Uma, Jane, and Audrey standing around a sheet-covered vehicle on the grass. Evie’s eyes went wide as she took in the sight of the three and the car.

“Guys! What are you doing here?” Evie cried dumbfoundedly as she tried to figure the entire thing out, looking at each of them in turn with a completely bumfuzzled expression.

“Yo, Blue! Come on over here,” Uma called, and Evie immediately looked at Mal questioningly, trying to figure out what was going on. Mal shrugged, feigning cluelessness but truly trying desperately to keep the ridiculously large smile off of her face.

The best friend pair came over to the covered vehicle, and Evie looked at it strangely. Uma, Audrey, and Jane stepped back from the vehicle, gazing at Evie expectantly. Audrey was unashamedly beaming alongside Jane, and even Uma was grinning widely.

They looked at Evie for a long moment, and Evie carefully looked behind her at the Nissan Cube to ensure this wasn’t some sort of cruel trick. Mal felt her heart twist a bit as she saw Evie’s sudden hopeful expression as she turned her gaze back to the sheet-covered vehicle.

“Well, are you going to pull the sheet off, or are you letting us have all the fun?” Uma questioned, and Evie glanced at Mal. Mal nodded to her best friend in encouragement, and Evie swallowed before reaching over to the sheet and grabbing it with one hand. Evie pulled the sheet, yanking it backward as she stepped back with the pull, the sheet slowly coming off of the vehicle.

As soon as it slid down the hood, Evie dropped the sheet with a gasp, bringing her uninjured hand to her mouth as she looked at the car.

It was perfect. Absolutely gorgeous. And a complete copy of Charlene.

Mal had to admit, when Tessa said she wouldn’t let her down, the mechanic really meant her words.

Evie stepped forward, reaching her hand out tentatively as unshed tears were in her eyes. She hesitated just before touching the hood, and after a moment of debating within herself, she moved her hand to close the distance.

As soon as her skin met the metal, she looked at Mal, tears filling her eyes as she gazed at her sister and best friend. Mal smiled softly at Evie, and Evie reached out her arm, bursting into tears. Mal wasted no time in hugging Evie, stroking her back and rocking a bit in the embrace.

“Oh, she’s beautiful! She’s so gorgeous!” Evie sobbed pitifully, and Mal grinned widely, extremely pleased with the car and the outcome so far.

“I never thought I’d see her again!” Evie cried, and Mal knew that Evie knew it was not actually Charlene but she was instead commenting on the similarity of the vehicle to her old one. After all, just last night, Evie had insisted upon seeing the picture of the wreckage.

“Do you want to see her interior?” Mal questioned, and Evie immediately got ahold of herself with a hard sniff.

“Yes,” Evie agreed, and Mal let her go so that the girl could go and investigate. Evie moved past Uma, Audrey, and Jane, and Mal looked at the three with a huge smile, happily noting how excited all three of them looked.

Evie opened the door, getting into the driver’s seat, and the other girls followed along, getting into their traditional spots with Mal in the passenger seat and Uma behind Evie’s seat with Audrey in the middle of the backseat and Jane on the other side.

As soon as they were all settled, Mal noticed the lack of new car smell and the fact that it smelled like Evie’s perfume that the bluenette so loved. She knew Audrey must have spruced it up. After all, she knew that Audrey was the only one that would think of something like perfume smell.

Evie sniffled and tried desperately to keep it together as she reached out, taking Mal’s hand as she looked at all of it.

“She’s absolutely amazing. It’s got everything that Charlene had. Even my fuzzy steering wheel,” Evie spoke as she finally settled her wandering eyes upon the steering wheel, and Mal looked back at Uma affectionately, sharing a glance with the pirate before turning her gaze to her most favorite person in the world.

“It’s just perfect. Thank you guys so much. This means the absolute world to me, and I don’t think I could possibly ever repay you. I just don’t have enough words to thank you with, much less anything that I could do that would compare to this,” Evie expressed, getting teary-eyed once again as she looked at the girls behind her and reached her hand out to each of them. They each took it as she offered it, wasting no time in the endeavor.

“Lucky for you, we’re not working on an exchange basis,” Uma told her teasingly, her voice radiating with warmth.

“You’re completely welcome, Evie, and we didn’t do it for repayment,” Audrey informed the girl with a sweet smile.

“We did it because we hated seeing how sad you were,” Jane piped up, and Mal caught Evie’s hand in her own. Evie’s eyes immediately locked with Mal’s and she smiled in an almost silly manner.

“We did it because we love you, E,” Mal admitted, and Evie was practically glowing with happiness.

“It’s perfect, guys. She’s truly perfect, and I love you guys so much,” Evie expressed, and the rest of the girls except for Uma directly reciprocated the sentiment.

“Now don’t get sappy on me or something, Blue. We all know I’m fond of you, but we don’t need to get emotional,” Uma expressed, and anyone could easily tell that Uma loved the bluenette just as much as Jane and Audrey did.

“Well, Evie, it’s almost perfect,” Mal pointed out, and Evie looked at her curiously as the faerie released Evie’s hand only to procure a bright silver disk with black letters scrawled across the front of it.

Evie’s eyes went ridiculously wide as she took in disk and its significance.

“My Country Music Awesome Mix CD?!” Evie almost squealed, and Mal nodded, putting the CD in the vehicle.

“Me, Audrey, and Jane put it together for you.”

“I helped!” Uma called offendedly.

“If you count laying on the bed and fussing about the age of the music as helping,” Audrey grumbled, and Uma just scoffed.

“Audrey and Jane did most of the technical work, but I knew all the songs on it,” Mal explained, and Uma rolled her eyes.

“Unfortunately,” Uma commented, and Mal chose not to pay the girl any attention.

“You guys did all of this… For me?” Evie questioned, looking at Mal with that unbridled adoration in her eyes. Mal nodded easily.

“Of course we did. You’re wonderful and deserve the best,” Mal expressed, and Evie wiped at her eyes.

“This is honestly the best thing that anyone has ever done for me. Thank you guys so much,” Evie expressed again, grabbing Mal in a gentle hug and gesturing for the other three to lean up and join in. They complied, Uma’s part being a bit begrudging but still enjoying the embrace.

After a moment of this, Uma spoke up, clearing her throat.

“Alright, Evie, you gonna play the music?”

They all broke apart, and Evie gave Mal one last look of affection before she skipped to a random song on her CD and turned the volume up.

All of a sudden, the Oak Ridge Boys’ song “Elvira” started to play in the vehicle. Mal almost laughed, and Evie grinned widely as she danced along with the song.

“ _Elvira! Elvira! My heart’s on fire! For Elvira_!”

“GUYS! I’VE GOT AN IDEA!!!” Evie cried loudly, looking at the other girls with a wild grin. They all looked at her questioningly, a little worried about what Evie had thought of now.

“I’ll name her Elvira!” Evie announced, gesturing to the Jeep.

They all stared at her for a long moment before they all burst into laughter. Mal reached over to Evie, hugging her older sister and best friend as tight as she could, still giggling to herself.

Evie might’ve lost Charlene, but she now had Elvira. However, most importantly, Evie had her three friends and her best friend in the entire world by her side.

And that was all Evie really needed.


End file.
